HCMC home quarantine trial to reduce centralized overload

The city will apply the new quarantine protocol on a pilot basis to ease the burden on centralized quarantine facilities, chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong told a meeting Sunday.

With the number of coronavirus infections quickly escalating in the past weeks, centralized quarantine facilities across the city are on the brink of overload.

The city has recorded more than 6,400 cases so far in the fourth wave that hit Vietnam in late April and became the most infected locality in the nation on Sunday.

It currently hosts around 14,400 people in centralized quarantine, and more than 36,300 others are isolated at home. People sent to centralized facilities include those that have come into contact with Covid-19 patients.

At a previous meeting last Friday, chairman Phong said a review of existing 14 quarantine facilities found some are "not safe enough" to contain the spread of Covid.

On June 27, the Ministry of Health urged the city to trial 28-day home quarantine for those directly linked to confirmed Covid-19 cases with stringent safety protocols, including complete isolation from family members.

Ho Chi Minh City since June 26 has carried out a large-scale testing campaign to collect as many as five million samples, with authorities stating last week more community infections should be expected in the coming time.

Vietnam used to mandate a centralized quarantine period of two weeks but has raised this to three over worries of longer incubation of the new coronavirus.